Town of Cary
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Serve - Q3 FY 2020
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When constructed, the SE Maynard Road station served residential areas along the Walnut Street corridor between Maynard Road and Buck Jones Road. In recent years, the area expanded and transformed to represent a more mixed-use community of residential and commercial developments. To support that and other growth in Cary, citizens approved a Community Investment Bonds referendum in 2012, which funded the construction of a new Fire Station 2, located in the downtown area at 601 E. Chatham Street. Fire Station 2 opened in December 2015 to address response time issues in the downtown area. The SE Maynard Road station, then Fire Station 2, was renamed Fire Station 9 with plans to later relocate it to 1427 Walnut Street.
The new Station 9 is a 17,500-square-foot, two-story, three-bay facility built in accordance with Cary’s Strategic Energy Action Plan. The station includes a kitchen, a day room and dormitory spaces as well as apparatus, work and training spaces. The 1,400-square-foot, multi-purpose room can be utilized for Town training, events, and Cary’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Cary’s first service test pits were also built on the site and consist of two 10,000 underground tanks that will allow staff to stay local instead of traveling to neighboring jurisdictions to conduct annual mandated testing of fire truck pumps. The dedication event planned for April 16 will be rescheduled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The completion of Fire Station 2 and Fire Station 9 relocation projects will ensure the Fire Department meets current and future demands associated with response time goals in the downtown and the Crossroads/U.S. 1 corridor areas.
In response to of the growing threat of COVID-19, staff set up Cary’s first ever Emergency Operations Center on Sunday, March 15. An Emergency Operations Center, or EOC, is a central, physical or virtual location designed to support emergency response, business continuity and crisis communication activities during a disaster or crisis.
When first activated, Cary’s EOC served two primary purposes: 1) to provide leadership with the information they needed to make decisions, such as when to declare a state of emergency, and 2) to ensure continuity of operations, particularly essential municipal services like water production and distribution; wastewater collection and treatment; police and fire response; solid waste, recycling and yard waste collection; inspections; and essential door to door transit.
The EOC implemented safety measures at all open Town facilities, including temperature checks, social distancing and providing personal protective equipment as needed. In support of its staff, Cary also set up onsite childcare services for employees responsible for essential municipal services.
To ensure the safety of all employees, EOC transitioned to mostly remote operations on Tuesday, April 14, with only the EOC manager, police branch and fire branch reporting to Cary Town Hall. But dealing with one emergency didn’t stop other emergencies from occurring. Cary’s EOC also responded to water main breaks and a severe thunderstorm during the first month of activation. More than 50 staff from every department participated in the EOC in the first 30 days.
To assist the EOC with operations outside of the essential services, staff set up an Organizational Framework Team, or OFT, a week later to communicate with everyone across the organization and to keep “the machine” running, ensuring that normal operations continue. The OFT, a group of four employees, produced an operational message and report every week to keep staff, particularly those working from home, informed of operational updates and to answer staff questions. Town operations continued thanks to staff coming up with new and innovative ways of doing business remotely, including:
- Conducting inspections services, including residential site inspections, remotely.
- Conducting permitting services, including Small Project One-Hour Turnaround (SPOT) Permit Review and Express Plan Review, remotely.
- Providing technology to operate 311 remotely.
- Envisioning the Town’s first virtual Spring Daze.
- Embracing new virtual communication tools, including Microsoft Teams and Cisco WebEx.
- Conducting all payroll activities remotely.
- Enhancing AquaStar messaging to encourage online services.
- Meeting virtually with developers and design teams for large projects, including Fenton, Cary Towne Center and Epic Games.
Through a OneCary approach, technology to work remotely, the ability to experiment and innovate, and the will to serve, Cary staff stepped up to the challenge of a pandemic and continues to provide exemplary service to Cary citizens.
Cary launched the first of many tree plantings with the installation of 22 trees at Western Wake Regional Water Reclamation Facility. The experience at Western Wake helped refine the process, contractor expectations, and communications for the success of future projects. Plantings were scheduled for the North Cary Water Reclamation Facility, Carpenter Park and Cary Tree Archive, a six-acre property across from the Taylor Family YMCA. However, those locations now join the list of greenway sites, planned for fall or winter tree plantings later this year. This quarter, staff also began developing a strategy to make trees, plantings and demonstrations throughout 2021 as part of Cary’s sesquicentennial celebrations. A companion webpage has been developed and is devoted to capturing the details and special aspects of each project
Cary utilized a new and evolving technology — drones — in several operations in Q3, expediting several of its operations and services, including police and surveying activities.
In March, the Police Department deployed drones to address vandalism at the new parking deck near the Cary Regional Library. Shortly after deploying, the Drone Unit located juveniles in the vicinity of the Cary Arts Center and coordinated a response from patrol officers. The juveniles were later determined to be on probation for vandalism. The Town also sent a drone in advance of a K9 team during the recovery of a stolen vehicle, where the suspects fled on foot. The technology served as an invaluable asset in searching for the suspects by allowing Cary police to safely examine without placing an officer’s life in jeopardy performing the same task.
In Q3, drones were also used for surveying — another milestone for the Town’s drone program. As part of a collaboration with the NC Department of Transportation and Epic Games to make pedestrian improvements around the Epic Games campus, staff utilized drones to survey the upgrades. This process was faster and safer than traditional survey methods since staff could complete the work without entering the busy roadway. Days of field work were reduced to a few hours. Drones are proving to be a useful tool for current needs and are expected to be even more useful in the future.
Text to 911 Upgrade
On January 31, 2020, the 911 Center upgraded its Text-2-911 platform allowing callers to quickly connect with Emergency Communications Officers (ECOs) with a true SMS connection, which is much faster than the previous system. Additional features provided by this new platform include the ability to answer multiple Text-2-911 calls by one ECO, ability to transfer Text-2-911 calls to neighboring agencies, ability to three-way Text-2-911 with the originating caller and neighboring agencies, and the ability to receive attachments such as photographs and/or videos from callers.
ASIS Award
Cary Police Department Senior Officer Robert Tonietto was one of five recipients of the 2019 American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) Law Enforcement award on
January 21 at the McCrimmon Center at NC State University. This award is given out each year to recognize area law enforcement officers for their selfless dedication to the communities that they serve and protect. Officer Tonietto received this award for his heroic effort on June 12, 2019 when he saved a subject from ending her life by jumping from a bridge along
Kildaire Farm Road onto U.S. 1. Officer Tonietto responded to this location and started a conversation with the subject. As he began to develop a rapport with her, trying to convince her to step back from the side of the bridge, he observed physical signs that she was not willing to negotiate and appeared to be slowly releasing her grip from the side of the bridge. After identifying this slight change in behavior, Officer Tonietto quickly diverted her attention and was able to pull her safely back over the rail. Officer Tonietto’s heroic actions saved her life. He is an incredible asset to our community, and his efforts with mental health consumers is unmatched. His genuine care and compassion for people is evident each and every day on the job.
American Legion Officer of the Year Award
Officers Allan Jones and Matthew Cotten were recipients of the American Legion Post #67 2019 Officer of the Year Award. Officers Jones and Cotten were recognized by the Legion for their lifesaving efforts during an overdose emergency at the Red Roof Inn. The two officers revived a near-death subject by administering multiple doses of the drug-neutralizing agent Narcan.
Community Bridge Builder Award
Lieutenant Jeremy Burgin and Lieutenant Rob Carey were recipients of the 2020 First Responder of the Year Community Bridge Builder award. This award was given “in recognition of their tireless service and commitment to building bridges of trust, legitimacy, empathy and understanding of people of all races, cultures, gender and backgrounds in their role as first responders in and around the Cary community.
The award was presented by TruAccess (Tru Pettigrew, EJ Wilder and Anthony Lynn Godwin) to Lt. Burgin and Lt. Carey at the third annual Future of Black History event held at the Mayton Inn on February 22, 2020.
Community Warrior Award
Officer Ken Collins received the Community Warrior Award from the U.S. Veterans Corps. Officer Collins was recognized for collaborating with the Veterans Corps to bring toys to 41 children as part of the Cary Police Department’s Winter Wonderland event for kids at the Herbert C. Young Community Center.
Partnership with SAS Advances Police Department Intelligence Capabilities
At the start of the calendar year, Cary crime analysts and detectives received the first version of Visual Investigator, a new software custom created for the Cary Police Department by SAS. Visual Investigator, or VI, harnesses the power of SAS and allows for multiple sources of intelligence to funnel into one analytical system without losing bits of data in the conversion process. Furthermore, the software incorporates machine learning and artificial intelligence so that analysts and detectives can proactively identify crime and safety trends. The multi-year project continues, placing SAS talent alongside our detectives and analysts as we continue the partnership to iterate and improve on versions of VI.
Jordan Lake One Water
Beginning in January 2020, five Jordan Lake One Water (JLOW) subcommittees started meeting monthly. Cary is taking a proactive leadership role and has dedicated staff to all five subcommittees, which continued meetings remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The five stakeholder committees are Organization, Finance, Evaluation, Monitoring and Implementation.
JLOW was organized by the Triangle J Council of Government (TJCOG) to work toward a collaborative, interdisciplinary and innovative approach to water resource management in the Jordan Lake watershed. This One Water approach is a holistic perspective of the social, economic and environmental dimensions of water. It also implies a holistic stakeholder engagement for the Jordan Lake watershed, which includes 25 municipalities across eight counties. Cary staff have been actively engaged since the inception of JLOW in 2017.
Cary’s leadership and representation are important to influencing outcomes to protect and preserve the Jordan Lake watershed for future generations. With Jordan Lake as Cary’s water supply, staff are dedicated to achieving the best outcomes for the future of the watershed.
Jordan Lake Round 4 Water Supply Allocation Contract
Since the completion of Jordan Lake in 1982, there have been several rounds of allocation of the water supply, which comprises about 1/3 of normal lake storage. In January 2020, the towns of Cary and Apex executed a signed contract with the state memorializing an additional water supply allocation to ensure adequate water supply through 2065, based on the 2019 Long Range Water Resources Plan. Cary, Apex and Morrisville retain the largest cumulative percentage of the water supply pool (46.2%) and operate the only water supply intake structure in the lake. The total allocation translates to an annual average day withdrawal of 46.2 million gallons per day.
This significant milestone has been years in the making and synchronizes well with the recently-expanded Cary/Apex Water Treatment Facility. The increased allocation continues the positive momentum of the Cary water portfolio and ensures long-term growth and economic development potential of Cary and western Wake County. It also emphasizes the importance of proactive long-range water resource planning.
Water Resources Year in Review
Beginning in 2016, staff began compiling a quick reference summary of water resource updates and trends as an internal milestone marker. This year’s report captures the various stories, including climate event impacts like the freezing spell in January as well as the dry spell in September, as no rain greater than a 10th of an inch fell for 36 consecutive days. The report also captures utility system accomplishments such as the two new elevated water storage tanks placed in operation and completing the multi-year project of pressure zone boundary changes. These projects and other infrastructure improvements and additions during the last year have significantly improved overall water system resiliency.
One feature of the report is a summary of water and wastewater treatment capacity. Treatment facility expansions require years of advance planning, permitting and investment. As such, proactive infrastructure planning combined with a long-term commitment by Cary’s leaders to meet the needs of a growing community have guided our approach. The facility capacity assessment shows that effective long-range planning and investment have provided the overall capacity to meet the needs of Cary’s future for many years to come.
Wastewater Treatment Performance - Lower Neuse Basin Association Annual Report
The North Cary, South Cary and Western Wake Regional water reclamation facilities processed more than 6.8 billion gallons of wastewater in 2019. An important performance indicator of wastewater treatment is nitrogen removal. With nitrogen removal rates exceeding 96 percent and three million total pounds removed, Cary’s wastewater treatment facilities continue to perform exceptionally well. The North Cary and South Cary water reclamation facilities continue to be among the best performing treatment facilities of Lower Neuse Basin Association (LNBA) by consistently driving improved performance within the coalition. A quick summary of NCWRF and SCWRF compared to LNBA membership is shown below. Cary’s dedicated team of wastewater treatment operators take great pride in providing high-quality treated water back to our streams and rivers.
The stadium playing field at WakeMed Soccer Park is a flat, natural grass, sand-based athletic field. These types of fields generally have a useful life of 20 years. The field was built in 2001, when the facility opened, and lasted 19 years. A new sand-based field can drain up to 18 inches of water per hour, but over time that number falls as grass clippings and other organic materials start to clog up the drainage channels in the sand. As of 2019, the existing field’s drainage had been reduced to less than two inches of water per hour and needed to be replaced.
On December 19, construction to replace the field began and was complete in February. Public Works staff at the park provided labor and expertise, completing many parts of the construction, including replacing two miles of drain lines, 2,500 tons of drainage gravel, 3,000 tons of sand and 95,000 square feet of natural turfgrass. They also installed two rugby and two American football goal posts. This collaborative effort by staff saved approximately $250,000 over current construction estimates.